Tottenham: Mourinho Says Winks and Skipp Going Nowhere

In case he was not clear previously, José Mourinho let everyone know Harry Winks is not going out on loan from Tottenham and Oliver Skipp is finishing his.

Despite the fact he has played himself into the conversation for the starting XI for Tottenham Hotspur, questions persist about Harry Winks going out on loan or leaving Spurs. Likewise, Oliver Skipp is having a strong loan with Norwich in the Championship and people are wondering if that means he might come home early. Hopefully for once and for all, José Mourinho has put those two stories to bed at his Fulham pre-match press conference.

Harry Winks is not Leaving Tottenham

When asked about a loan move to Spain for Harry Winks, José Mourinho was clearly annoyed. Starting his response with wo questions of his own, “how” and “what” Mourinho clearly wanted to know how he is being misunderstood.

Mourinho responded to the question after a pause and then blowing out some air with his lips, “How, what do I have to say to stop with this, with this talk I told already it’s going nowhere, so when I say it’s going nowhere, what do you want me more to say?”

Of course, José had more to say, mentioning that Winks has been playing, although he did not against Marine, but was in contention for Fulham. As for the question itself Mourinho said that “if somebody (a journalist) is speaking with other clubs” Mourinho’s advice is to not “lost your time because he’s (Winks) going nowhere”.

Given the growing role Winks has had over the last month and his presence as a homegrown Englishman in a team short of them, there is no chance Winks is going anywhere, as Gary Pearson recently wrote for HotspurHQ. Now with Mourinho confirming what we have suspected, hopefully any of the transfer out rumors will stop.

Oliver Skipp is Finishing his Loan

The other question that people want to seem to keep bringing up is the idea of Oliver Skipp coming back from his loan early. While it would be nice to see Skipp in lilywhite, the reality is, the minutes and experience he is garnering at Norwich far outweigh anything he might receive at Spurs.

Skipp has been a steady presence in the Norwich midfield this season but has not been the Canaries best player or even their best midfielder. In other words, Skipp is not ready to just walk into the Spurs team and as such there is not any reason – absent a slew of injuries – to cut his loan short. For those with these silly ideas, again Mourinho dispelled any myths here.

José Mourinho said that Oliver Skipp has been having a “very successful loan for us and also for Norwich, so we are very happy that he’s playing and he’s playing well, he’s playing to win, he’s playing to win title, so he has that pressure on him too”. Add in the fact that “he’s playing two, three matches a week” for the physical development and what you have a terrific loan.

A terrific loan that is going to finish as Mourinho said that the “best thing for him is to finish the season there” at Norwich and that the club believes “that for this season the best this is to stay at Norwich” and that Skipp himself is “also very happy with” finishing the loan.

Given so many loans go awry for whatever reason, the idea of cutting a loan short because it is working seems to defeat the purpose of a loan. If Skipp comes back this season it is only because something went very wrong, instead let us hope he returns with the experience of being a champion.